The erythrocyte and plasma fatty acid compositions of children with autism were compared in a case -control study with typically developing (TD) children and with children showing developmental delay (DD). Forty-five autism subjects were age-matched with TD controls and thirty-eight with DD controls. Fatty acid data were compared using paired t tests. In addition, blood fatty acids from treatment-naive autism subjects were compared with autism subjects who had consumed fish oil supplements by two-sample t tests. Relatively few differences were seen between erythrocyte fatty acids in autism and TD subjects although the former had an increased arachidonic acid (ARA):EPA ratio. This ratio was also increased in plasma samples from the same children. No changes in n-3 fatty acids or ARA:EPA ratio were seen when comparing autism with DD subjects but some SFA and MUFA were decreased in the DD subjects, most notably 24 : 0 and 24 : 1, which are essential components of axonal myelin sheaths.

The adaptation and application of a systems analysis model devised for educational evaluation is discussed in the context of educational evaluation of a small specialist centre and the benefits of the adaptation explained. The ways in which the adapted model was used to gain a realistic picture of the centre are outlined and the potential usefulness of the framework discussed.

It is becoming increasingly important for clinicians to justify the treatment approaches they use. This study illustrates one way of measuring therapeutic effectiveness in a small group of learning disabled individuals who frequently demonstrated aggressive or intimidating behaviours. The use of a self‐report measure, the Provocation Inventory (PI) to monitor change, can be easily implemented in everyday clinical practice. The PI allowed for responses to be categorised and consequently pre‐ and post intervention responses could be compared. Changes recorded using the PI were ambiguous in terms of ‘improvement’, although staff reports indicated group work to have been effective to some extent. The use of formal outcome measurements represents good clinical practice. Despite some limitations in the PI, some useful recommendations for its future use are documented.

Conductive education -how to evaluate it?Is it really impossible for scientists to design the definitive evaluation study? This is a question asked many times by both parents and professionals involved with conductive education. Understandably frustrated by years of controverSy over an approach which was first introduced into this country more than 30 years ago, many looked to the Birmingham project for the answer to the question: is conductive education a good way of educating children with cerebral palsy? Here was a project which had been planned by experts in the field, was funded by the government and was centred on an attempt to transplant conductive education as a complete system into the UK. However, as Bairstow and Cochrane pointed out recently in the BJSE, the teething problems associated with getting the Birmingham Institute running had a knock-on effect on the evaluation itself and the results raised many more questions than they answered. Ideally, of course, the first Birmingham evaluation should have been viewed as a preparation for a second study which would begin after the first set of conductors had been fully trained and new children recruited.Since it is unlikely that a repeat of the Birmingham project will take place, what are the alternatives? In the papers that follow, two quite different approaches are represented. In the first MacKay and colleagues, from the Faculty of Education Sirathclyde University, describe the beginnings of another large project, based at the Scottish Centre for Children with Motor Impairments. In this project, organ transplant has not been considered. Instead, an attempt is being made to produce a Scottish version of conductive education by the process of grafting. As part of the evaluation project the group is experimenting with a measurement technique, Goal Attainment Scaling, which they describe in detail.In the second paper, Sigafoos etal., from the

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